Sustainable tourism
Kimberly tourism partnership
A project promoting Indigenous participation in the tourism industry and protection of Indigenous cultural heritage values is achieving milestones in the Kimberley.
Bardi Jawi cultural awareness workshop for tour operators on Dampier Peninsular. An Indigenous Protected Area ranger and a senior women's cultural adviser point out local bush tucker to tour guides. (c) Pam Jennings.The Kimberley Coastal Tourism project has been formed out of a partnership between The Travel Corporation Conservation Foundation, WWF-Australia and The Kimberley Land Council (KLC). Project partners want to see an increase in the number of Traditional Owners working in and benefiting from the thriving tourism industry in the Kimberley region, and at the same time protect its unique nature and cultural landscape. With the Kimberley rapidly becoming a global tourism hot-spot, it is critical to put in place effective measures to safeguard the region.
Now in its second year, the project has already achieved some important milestones. Project participants are working to establish guidelines for visitors, which when adopted will ensure Traditional Owners play a more pivotal role in tourism on their country while protecting key cultural sites..
Cultural protocols and awareness packages are complete or under development with Traditional Owner groups Bardi Jawi, Dambimangari, Mayala, Uunguu and Balanggarra. Under the project, the Bardi Jawi Indigenous Ranger group have established a cultural awareness talk to inform visitors to their country about their vibrant culture, history, law and customs, The talk provides an economic benefit to the Indigenous Rangers and the community and provides visitors with an opportunity to meet Traditional Owners while gaining a better appreciation of the living culture of Bardi Jawi people and their connection to country. This group is also delivering a full day cultural awareness experience to visiting tour operators.
Uungu Rangers involved in tourism training to assist them in their Caring for Country activities. (c) Pam Jennings.Also under the project, tourism training modules delivered to Kimberley Indigenous Rangers will assist in tourism management and cultural awareness product delivery. These training units count towards the Ranger's Tafe qualifications in certificates II & III in Conservation and Land Management. Training is conducted on-country, so it is both easily accessible to Ranger groups working on their land as well as being relevant to the management of important sites. In addition to providing training on site, on-country site visits enable the recording of traditional knowledge about each site's cultural and natural values. This information is then used to develop and enhance management plans used to look after country. This is underway with Uunguu Rangers in Ngauwudu (a.k.a Mitchell Plateau) and Munurru (King Edward River).
Because of the project outcomes so far Traditional Owner groups from across the Kimberley have shown an interest in developing their own cultural awareness packages and are looking forward to learning more about the project and how it can help them be part of and manage tourism on their country.
Northern Territory Tourism - Outback offsets
With the support of WWF Australia, Tourism NT has collaborated with three tour operators working out of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to develop a model which tourism operators can use to reduce their greenhouse emissions.
Find out more about the outback offsets program.
